Inn at Penn says it will rehire workers

Inn at Penn General Manager Dave Newhart has officially issued a statement addressed to current Faculty Club employees promising to rehire 70 percent of them. The move marks the first time DoubleTree Hotel Corp., which employs Newhart and will manage the Inn at Penn in the Penn-owned Sansom Common hotel and retail complex, has made such a commitment in writing. The application process for jobs at the Inn at Penn will be announced over the next few months, according to Newhart's statement. On March 3, the Faculty Club Board of Governors officially approved the facility's planned relocation from Skinner Hall at 36th and Walnut streets to the Inn at Penn this summer. The Board of Governors signed both the transfer agreement and the maintenance and operations agreement at their recent meeting, according to Penn Vice President for Human Resources Jack Heuer. Under the newly signed agreements, the Faculty Club will be housed in the Inn at Penn for 10 years with periodic financial reviews to assess the financial appropriateness of maintaining the facility in the hotel, according to a report made to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at its March 3 meeting. The grace period for evaluating the Club's financial performance has been extended to three years and the Club is guaranteed control over its space in the hotel between 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. Before and after those times, the hotel can use the space as it chooses. The University also promised to include these conditions in its operating contract with DoubleTree, according to the report. Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 274 has been engaged in negotiations with the University since last July, when officials announced their intention to move the Faculty Club to the Inn at Penn and transfer management rights to DoubleTree Hotel Corporations. The negotiations have been acrimonious and were stalled completely last month when officials failed to produce a written guarantee that DoubleTree would rehire at least 70 percent of current full-time Faculty Club employees. Penn Associate Counsel Eric Tilles said he doesn't think the written agreement or the finalization of the move by the Board of Governors will aid negotiations between the University and the union. "It's always been my thought that this wouldn't help the union in negotiations at all," Tilles said. Tilles added that he has encouraged the union to negotiate directly with DoubleTree since last July, despite Union President Pat Coughlan's protests that the University is not committed to its current employees. Coughlan could not be reached yesterday for comment.

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